


Electric Currents

by KorruptBrekker



Series: Brekker's Story Graveyard [2]
Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Dystopia, Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - Robots & Androids, Android!Logan, Android!Virgil, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Enemies to Lovers, M/M, human!patton, human!roman, not beta read we die like men
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-05
Updated: 2020-10-07
Packaged: 2021-03-05 20:14:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,566
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25721161
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KorruptBrekker/pseuds/KorruptBrekker
Summary: Logan and Virgil, needing to survive on the rough streets of Mindscape City, stumble into a trap. Patton stumbles upon the two robots, sees how bad of shape their in, and takes them in. The only problem is his roommate and best friend, Roman. He despises androids with a passion, and makes no exception for Logan and Virgil. Though, soon enough, Roman begins to realize that there are more to androids than he originally thought.Note: This story is discontinued.
Relationships: Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders/Logic | Logan Sanders, Platonic Background Anxiety | Virgil Sanders/Morality | Patton Sanders
Series: Brekker's Story Graveyard [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1973869
Comments: 10
Kudos: 53





	1. Prologue

Logan gripped Virgil's hand and pulled the other to their feet as he sprinted down the alleyway. He should have known not to come here. Sure, he and Virgil needed fuel, but he shouldn’t have been so desperate as to walk into what, in hindsight, was so obviously a trap. And now here he was, dragging Virgil behind him as he twisted through the grid of sketchy alleyways hidden from the neon lights of the main streets.

Just then, a clang sounded as a blade embedded itself in Logan’s arm. Luckily for him, he had the foresight to turn off his sensors. Unluckily for him, his right arm from the shoulder down was now damaged. It would cost even more to get that repaired. He grit his teeth at the prospect, gripping Virgil’s wrist harder as he continued to run. A few more sharp turns and the stomping of footsteps behind them was gone.

“Logan..” Virgil muttered, his voice slightly distorted.

Logan shook his head. “Don’t exert more energy than needed, Virge. Just sleep for now. I’ll wake you up when I get my hands on some Silver Blood, alright?”

Virgil nodded, closing his eyes. The light from the divots in his paneling faded, signalling that he’d gone to sleep. Logan sighed and pulled out the blade. It had cut through nearly all of his wiring. Not to mention, when running with his dead arm, it had been beaten up significantly. It would be smarter to just get it replaced. It was more expensive to repair a part than it was to get a cheap replacement. And even though it probably wouldn’t last in the long run, it was what Logan could afford. He took a deep breath and yanked his right arm from his socket, severing the remaining wires and discarding the broken part. His balance would be off, but he would adjust. He had to.


	2. I

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Patton stumbles across a pair of struggling androids.

Patton adjusted his glasses as he walked down the city streets, the pouring rain pooling in the divots in the road. He sighed, looking at the brightly lit streets of Mindscape City. It was one of the few cities around that actually had internet and had blown up immensely in the past few years. People came from all over just to get access to the internet and a roof over their heads. But, sadly, along with that, they brought all their problems. There were people on the streets with signs talking about how their livelihood was stolen by the android population, all while being surrounded by discarded android parts. It broke Patton's heart.

Mindscape City was one of the few cities with integrated living, though it wasn’t really integrated in Patton’s opinion. Androids were just treated like slaves, and whenever a new series came around, the old ones were left on the side of the road to rust. He frowned, continuing on his way home. Walking by an alleyway, he stopped as heard a sound. It sounded like whoever was in there was arguing with someone else. Patton stepped into the alleyway to investigate.

“Y-you can’t give me your Silver Blood, Lo. I don’t want you to shut down.” One voice said, clearly on the cusp of glitching.

“Virgil, I’ll be alright. I’m a couple series older than you are, I have more diverse fuel options.”

“Lo-”

“Virgil, it’ll be alright. Neither of us are going to shut down. I’ll make sure of it.”

Patton watched the two androids argue before the one named Virgil finally gave in and let his friend, Lo, give him some. But before Lo could open up his chest panel to access his fuel tank, Patton chimed in, “If you’re in need of Silver Blood, I have some at my house. I can help.”

“We don’t need your hel-lp.” Virgil bit, his voice glitching slightly on the last word.

Lo nodded in agreement. “We appreciate the offer, but we can handle ourselves.”

Patton frowned. “Are you sure? Because you both look like you’re in pretty bad shape. And I used to fix androids, I could patch you guys up.”

All he got in return were apprehensive glares.

“Okay, so it’s clear you guys don’t trust me. But what can I do to help you trust me? I really do want to help.” He said, holding his hands up in what he hoped to be a non threatening way.

Lo stood and turned towards Patton. It was then that he realized the android had no right arm. Without even thinking, he rushed over inspecting the socket. “What happened? I mean, it’s clear by the clean cuts here that some of these wires were slices, but then you have these other ones here that suggest a tension break, which means you probably pulled your arm off, but why would you do that? You could have gotten it repaired, unless, of course, you don’t have the money for it. Which, obviously they don’t Patton come on they were just arguing over Silver Blood rationing. But even still, I think I’d be able to weld you a new arm. I should have enough scrap hanging around to do so. As for the severed wires, it’s a miracle that you’re even still functioning right now. You must be an older model, maybe a version IV or V. I’m not as familiar with them, but I think I’ll be able to whip something up and…” Patton trailed off as the bewildered faces staring back at him. “I was thinking out loud again, wasn’t I?” He asked sheepishly, flushing in embarrassment.

The android before him smiled slightly. “I think that was all the proof we needed that you’re trustworthy. Though don’t expect us to become close friends or anything of the sort. You are human after all, so forgive me if I don’t believe that your intentions are entirely selfless.”

At this, Virgil hesitantly stood, stumbling over to Lo and using him for support. As he did this, Patton nodded. “Of course, I understand. Now come on, the moisture in the air can’t be good for your circuits. Let’s get you somewhere dry.”

* * *

“I’m home!” Roman called in a singsong voice.

He slipped off his red and gold leather jacket, and swept his hair from his face. Thanks to the new advancements in technology, humans were able to easily alter their appearances. Once Roman heard about this, he’d immediately changed his sad brown hair to a bright cherry red, and his dull hazel eyes to a shocking gold. He wandered through their house, looking for his roommate Patton. Thanks to Roman’s job, he and Patton were one of the few people wealthy enough to own a house in the city. Sure, it was more on the outskirts, but was much better than a shabby apartment somewhere in the deep city surrounded by druggies and lunatics.

Roman called Patton’s name again, still with no reply. He decided to head down to the workroom. Typically when Patton wasn’t answering, he was tinkering with some new project. As Roman trotted down the stairs he heard Patton talking and someone talking back. That was unusual, Patton wasn’t one to bring guests down to his workroom. When he got down the stairs, he stopped in his tracks. There, in Patton’s workroom, wasn’t a little robo-cat like Roman had expected. It was two full on androids. One, the one Patton was talking to, was sat on the worktable. Its raven hair was swept back, it had a dusting of indigo freckles across its cheeks, and it wore glasses, which was odd, seeing as androids didn’t need them. Behind the lenses were piercing indigo eyes that seemed to stare into his very soul. It wore the classic outfit: a black high collar shirt with its serial number printed on the front breast in white, some black pants, and black dress shoes. 

Roman shifted his gaze to the other android, which looked significantly smaller. It too wore the standard uniform, but this one had a black hoodie, with violet patches haphazardly sewn onto it. It had pale lavender hair and piercing amethyst eyes. It also had triangle markings underneath its eyes that faded from black at the top to amethyst near the bottom. The purple one looked to be in better condition physically, but it had a worried look on its face that made Roman grimace. Androids weren’t supposed to do that. They were meant to be tools, not replicas of humans.

Roman grit his teeth, glaring at Patton and the two hunks of metal he’d brought in. “Patton, what the _hell_ are you doing?!”

He winced a bit at Roman’s tone, but turned to look at him nonetheless. “I’m helping them. They were in an alleyway and were suffering. I needed to help them. You don’t just leave people like that to die.”

“But they’re _not people!_ You know that! Look at them! People _bleed!_ People _feel!_ They _don’t!”_ He snarled.

“Roman!” Patton scolded. “Androids are people too! Now, apologize!”

“For what?! Stating facts?! Look at them! How dare they have the audacity to mimic us!” He snatched the glasses from the indigo eyed one, chucking them to the floor and smashing the lenses. 

Patton gasped.

The android glared at Roman. “If you care, which I doubt you do, wearing glasses is a pleasing, aesthetic choice. And frankly, you’re not one to judge in regards to false appearances, seeing as your hair and eye colour are clearly altered.”

Roman scowled. “That's different!”

“Why, because you’re human?”

“Yes!”

“Of course.” The android rolled his eyes, picking up his glasses, and setting them on the table. He turned his attention to Patton. “You were inspecting the damage?”

Patton nodded. “Yes Logan, one second.” He walked over to Roman, pulling him up the stairs and out of the workroom. “Roman! That is not how we treat our guests!” He scolded.

 _“Guests?!_ Patton, are you crazy?! They’re hunks of metal who think they feel things! It’s just a bunch of electrical signals that makes them think they’re like humans, but they’re not! They’re just a pathetic copy!”

“Roman, I’m sorry you don’t like this, but they’re staying here until I can fix them up. If you don’t like it, then just stay out of their way. But they’re people, and they deserve to be treated as such.”

Roman opened and closed his mouth, shocked that Patton would care for these creatures. Sure, he had worked at a factory fixing the damn things but this was different. This was the pests _in his own house._ After a slew of offended noises, he stormed off, glaring.

 _Fine,_ he thought as he charged into his room, pulling open a notes window from a wristband. He opened up a new page and began to write. Living with those androids was going to make his life a living hell. The least he could do was return the favour.


	3. II

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Logan and Roman have a confrontation.

Logan ran his hands through his hair, gritting his teeth in frustration. It has been only a couple days living with Patton and Roman, and the latter was already figuratively driving him up the wall. It was the little things Roman did that drove him near insane. Logan had already needed his glasses fixed thrice, and there were multiple instances in which he was dangerously close to overheating because the temperature in the workroom was cranked up and left there overnight, and those were just some examples. The worst part was that nothing was being done about these little annoyances. Sure, Patton would scold Roman, but it was clear he wasn’t the type to lay down the law. And Logan could only feign indifference for so long. So, when Virgil came up to Logan frantically telling him about how his jacket had gone missing, Logan lost it.

He was currently pacing, debating on whether or not to confront Roman in case of just a mix up. Logan swiftly walked out of the room, teeth still clenched, to check the washing nook. He sifted through both clean and dirty clothing, nearly growling when he didn’t find it. This was the last straw. Logan quickly sent a message to Virgil before purposefully walking up to Roman’s room and rapping on the door.

“Pat? That’s odd, you never knock. Everything okay?” Roman opened the door and his concern contorted into anger. “What do you want.”

“You know exactly what I want. I can cope with you picking on me, but going after Virgil personally is just cruel.”

“You would know.” Roman shot back, leaning against his doorframe.

Logan stuck his hand out, his look cold as stone. “Hand it over.”

“And what if I don’t?”

His jaw set. “I’ll make you.”

He wasn’t the fighting type, he much preferred to best someone with words rather than fists, but words didn’t seem to be getting through to this meathead. As empty as the threat was, he still turned off his pain receptors, just in case.

Roman’s eyes widened slightly before narrowing. “And how are you going to explain that to Patton?”

“I’m justified and you know it.”

* * *

Roman’s heart was pounding in his ears as he stared down the robot in front of him. How dare it come to confront him. He swiftly grabbed it by the collar and slammed it against the wall. Odds are it probably removed it’s capacity to feel pain, the freak, but that didn’t mean Roman couldn’t rough it up and it wouldn’t feel it when it turned its circuits on later.

“You have no right to come in here all high and mighty, threaten me, and then claim you’re justified.” He snarled.

He was inches away from the android’s face, and could get a clear look at its features. It’s irises were like camera shutters, and there was a feint indigo glow in between the panels that lit up its pale, skin toned paint job. It looked almost human, but its irises were too big, its “skin” was too perfect, and it wasn’t breathing. Despite this, there was something about those indigo eyes. Something he couldn’t place. Roman shook the thought away, slamming the hunk of metal into the wall once more before it could reply and storming off, refusing to tell where he’d hid its companion’s jacket.

He grabbed his own leather jacket and walked off into the streets of the city. He looked overhead, noticing that clouds were closing in. Another rainstorm. They were common around this time of year, but were still a nuisance nonetheless. As he walked, he always made sure to toss a few bucks to those on the streets. He was lucky enough to had never been there, but he’d still watched as the thing humans created began to overtake them.

The first mainstream androids freaked a lot of people out, but were mostly accepted by the population. That’s when Mindscape City began to get its reputation. It was one of the first places to introduce androids into standard lives. Everything started off well, the walking computers did what they were supposed to do and stayed out of the way of humans. All was well. But, just a few years ago, police started reporting cases of sentiency. Androids thinking of themselves as living creatures, aware of their existence. This cropped up all over the city, and soon there were riots as the androids demanded they be treated like people. This went on for months, their protests and riots wrecking the city. Eventually, a law was passed, allowing androids to be seen as equal to humans. After that, things died down in the riot department, but that was just the beginning. Soon, they started working jobs and taking up space. Since they were more efficient than humans, a lot of people got let go in favour of robots.

Roman was lucky enough to have a solid place in the entertainment industry, but so many others were left to rot on the streets as their metal counterparts took over their world. Seeing all the damaged caused by the imitation of what was truly alive hit like a knife to the chest. These creatures had taken over their city, kicked out its original residents, and everyone else was just supposed to lie down and take it?  _ Hell no. _ He kicked a chunk of scrap metal as he walked down the trashed streets. He had to come up with a plan. Do something so that he didn’t end up on the streets like everyone else. He wouldn’t become just another sob story told about the fall of humanity. No. He refused to be that. He’d persevere. And the first step was getting rid of those androids Patton had so foolishly brought upon them.

He returned to the house just before it began to rain. He sighed in relief as he set his jacket on the hanger near the doorway and walked up to his room. His mood took a drastic turn when he realized the black haired android was in front of his door. Again. He was about to open his mouth to retaliate, but it spoke first.

“I wanted to apologize. Not for standing up to you of course, but in the way I did it. Your actions are inexcusable, but I should have handled the situation with a cooler head, so to speak. I don’t need, nor want you to like me, but I ask you to leave Virgil and I alone for our stay here. We won’t be long. Just a few more days according to your friend. So, for the time being, let’s just agree to stay out of each other’s way. Agreed.”

Roman stood, shocked. Of all the things he expected to happen, _that_ was not one of them. He almost felt a pang of guilt. It was he who should be apologizing, not it. It didn’t do anything wrong. _False._ He corrected himself. _ It exists. That’s crime enough. _ Even still, Roman couldn’t bring himself to do anything but nod. The android nodded in return and walked off, seeming to relax at Roman’s agreeing to stay out of it’s way. He frowned. It was supposed to be a cold, unfeeling machine. So why did it apologize to him? Roman couldn’t shake the odd feeling as he walked into his room, closing the door.

* * *

A swift knock sounded at the basement door, causing Logan to look up from his reading. He made his way to to the door, surprised when no one was there. Instead, lay Virgil’s jacket, along with a note, written on physical piece of paper.

“Who is it, Lo?” Virgil asked, voice wobbly. He'd been close to tears ever since Roman had stolen his jacket. Androids couldn't cry, of course, but Virgil was definitely as close to doing so as mechanically possible.

“It’s your jacket.” Logan said, tossing it to his friend with a smile.

Virgil’s eyes lit up as he quickly pulled it on, melting into the fabric. Logan chuckled at him, patting him on the arm affectionately, then turned to the note. It was in cursive, written in what looked to be fountain pen.

_ To The Indigo Fellow, _

__ _ I wanted to apologize as well. I may have taken things a little too far. Not to say you didn’t deserve most of it, but admittedly, stealing your companion’s jacket was cruel. So, this is me apologizing. I still don’t like you, but it would be rude not to have a truce if both parties are not willing to meet in the middle. So, this is me doing so. Again, I still don’t like you. But I agree to stay out of your way until you leave. _

__ _ -Roman _

Logan’s eyebrows raised as he read the note, taken aback by the apology. He supposed that this is how Roman must have felt when he apologized to him. It was by no means perfect, but Logan figured it was about as close to a good apology as Roman could get. Without realizing it, a small smile crept up onto his face as he scanned the letter, putting the digital version into his memory bank, and then, storing the physical version in his chest panel. There was something about the letter, something he couldn’t place, that compelled him to keep it.


	4. III

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Logan goes to sleep.

Unnervingly, the next few days went on without any other retaliations. After further examinations, Patton determined that he didn’t have all the parts he needed, so they’d be staying longer than they intended. Logan and Roman had come to a truce, but that didn’t mean they were on good terms. Every time Roman went down to say ‘hi’ to Patton, or Logan wandered the ground floor to break the monotony of staring at scrap metal and concrete walls, there’d always be tension. Wary glances would be exchanged and both the human and android visibly stiffened when in each other’s vicinity. 

Logan was sitting on the sill of the window in the living room, looking out at the streets. It was raining, as it usually was, though it was more of a sprinkle than a downpour. He pulled open a screen projected from his forearm, checking his power. 7%. He’d need to get some Silver Blood in him soon if he didn’t want to shut down. Patton had a small amount stashed which had kept him and Virgil at about a quarter percent of their power for the past week, but they’d run out last night. I wasn’t that they burned through fuel quickly, but the fuel Patton had stocked was understandably cheap and had lasted about half as long as the quality substance he and Virgil were used to.

Back when they were still housed, they took care of a small family. The Sanders. They were kind to androids and had enough money to make sure they were treated well. Logan had arrived first, then about five years later, they picked up Virgil. He and Logan were originally brought there to work, but it was made clear that they were family too. They’d help cook and clean, but they’d also watch movies together. Virgil would mostly join Andy in their room drawing and listening to music. Logan would take care of and chat with their father, Thomas.

They talked about everything under the sun. The more they talked, the more Logan learned that the world was cruel to the likes of them. That their household was the exception, not the rule. Soon enough, Thomas and his husband passed away. Andy, wanting to make a life for themselves elsewhere, encouraged Logan and Virgil to venture out on their own. It was clear they were excited to explore Mindscape City, but it was also clear their grief was weighing on them. They barely looked at Logan and Virgil, and only touched them when they hugged the two goodbye.

It was then, that the androids realized that the house they’d stayed in for nearly a decade was very much the exception. The moment they stepped onto the streets, they saw the carnage. To keep them safe the Sanders wouldn’t allow Logan and Virgil further than the front steps. Now that they had the whole city to explore, they saw how disastrous everything was. Chrome liquid stained the streets that sent pangs of something through Logan’s chest that he couldn’t identify. It terrified Virgil. They tried to lay low, but eventually began to run low on power about a fortnight in to living in alleys. Logan found a small market in one of the back alleys that sold android parts. He spotted some Silver Blood and decided to go after it. He didn’t have any money, but he was confident in his ability to be stealthy. Much to his and Virgil’s dismay, he highly overestimated his prowess.

And that had landed him here. One good arm, his once talkative friend gone nearly mute, and a human supremacist roommate. He’d never thought he’d end up living with an HS, but things rarely went the way he predicted now anyways.

He felt his fans turn on and smelled something slightly burning. He had only a second to wonder how much power he’d used to cause the overheating before his eyelids fluttered and his markings went dark.

* * *

Virgil was rocking back and forth slightly, chewing on his thumbprint plate. He’d done the motion so often his left thumbplate had an indent where his teeth had eroded away the material. It was a habit he was trying to break and had no luck succeeding. Logan mentioned that he was going upstairs, but hadn’t mentioned for how long. He wasn’t usually gone for more than an hour and it had been an hour and a half. But Virgil didn’t dare go upstairs. The man who stole his jacket was up there and he didn’t want an encounter. But Logan.

With a quick flicking of his wrists to sooth him and turning his fans on so his racing mind wouldn’t cause his internal systems to overheat, he collected enough courage to walk up the steps. He’d never been upstairs again after they’d arrived, and at that time Virigl hadn’t a good chance to look at it. The door to the basement seemed to be right in the wall of the living room. To his right was the front door, and to his left was a doorway into the kitchen. Against the wall to his left sat a couch with the TV mounted right next to the front door. In between the kitchen and the living room, there was a hallway that began to the left that must lead to Patton and his roommate’s rooms. Right before him there was a huge window with a sill wide enough to sit on and on said sill was Logan, slumped over, eyes and markings dark.

Panic shot through Virgil like a steel bullet. Patton wasn’t supposed to be back for another few hours--he’d gone to get Silver lood earlier that day, but had also wanted to scavenge a small junkyard for the parts he was missing to fix him and Logan up properly. The other human, Roman, was home, but Virgil didn’t dare approach him. After what he’d done, stealing the one thing Virgil had left of Andy, he wasn’t ready to face him. But, desperate measures, right? He didn’t know how to deal with Logan, seeing his model was significantly older, but maybe Roman did because he was around Patton? But who was to say Roman wouldn’t just take this opportunity to toss Logan?

Distracted, Virgil didn’t even notice Roman had entered the room until he was walking up to the android, poking and prodding.

“What the h-h-hell!” he shouted, reflexively moving over to his friend and shoving Roman away.

Roman’s eyes went wide, his hands by his head, before they narrowed. “Chill out Glitching Beauty, I’m not gonna hurt it.”

Virgil scowled. “Li-ike I’m gonna beli-i-ieve you.”

“Fair enough. I haven’t been the nicest to either of you, but frankly, I don’t want an android corpse sitting on my window sill until Patton gets home, so I’m moving it.”

He flinched, not wanting to think about the fact that his friend had just shut down. Holy fuck. His friend had just shut down. His fans kicked up top notch as his systems tried to keep up with his panicking mind. “Nononononononono. N-no. He can-n-n’t die. He  _ can’t. _ ”

Suddenly, Roman was in front of him, putting his hands on his shoulders, grounding him. “It- _ He _ isn’t dead. Just sleeping. Patton will be back soon and he’ll wake up, alright?”

The sudden character change shocked Virgil, but he nodded anyways, squeezing his eyes shut, bringing his thumb to his lips. “O-o-okay.” Nodding, he let Roman guide him to the couch.

* * *

Roman had no idea what was happening. The moment he’d seen the android, he’d felt himself stiffen. He was by no means on good terms with it, but it was still unnerving to see it lifeless on his window sill. The sight made his chest ache. He shook his head, deciding to deal with that later. And then he’d seen its companion and how scared it’d been and something in him broke. He immediately went to help the android that was still awake. He sat it on the couch, running through grounding exercises. He knew a panic attack when he saw one, human or not. He’d had enough himself to know.

After the other android--V, it’d said--had calmed down, they both agreed to move the shut down one--L, V generously provided--to the basement. Once L was situated and Roman contacted Patton to hurry home with fuel, there was nothing to do but wait.  He looked toward V to really look at them. They looked young, 19 or maybe 20, though you could never tell with androids. He had a lanky build and a thin face, nearly drowning in his oversized hoodie.

“The hell a-are you staring at.” Virgil demanded.

Roman noticed that its voice glitch had gotten better once it calmed down, but it wasn’t completely gone. Maybe that was why it didn’t talk.

“Nothing.” He shook his head.

It narrowed its eyes, but said nothing in return, instead resting its gaze on its unconscious partner.

“How do you know each other?” Roman asked, trying to strike up conversation as to not sit in nervous tension until Patton arrived.

“G-grew up tog-g-gether. We’re basically brothers at this point.”

“Really?”

“What’s it t-t-to you.” It deadpanned.

Roman shrugged. “Dunno, curiosity I guess? It just doesn’t make sense. How can you guys be so close when you can’t even feel?”

It bristled, a slight whirring starting up from the chest panel. “We could s-s-say the same fo-o-or you.”

“Well, no, you couldn’t. We’re proven to feel. You aren’t. We have science to back up our emotional awareness, and you don’t.”

Before Virgil could reply the basement door crashed open, bringing a disheveled Patton carrying more bags than any human should. As Roman went to help unload and put things away, Patton rushed over to L.

“How long’s he been like his Virge?”

“For-rty fi-i-ive minutes.”

Patton nodded, snatching one of the bags from Roman and pulling out the contents. There were about 10 canisters that he set near L. He then unzipped Logan’s uniform shirt to pull open his side compartment. Watching, Roman saw that the markings on its face snaked down its chest too. There were two parallel lines framing its chest, and two horizontal lines; one that ran along where its clavicle would be, the other straight across where its rib cage would end. The compartment wasn’t any bigger than the palm of his hand, though it was about five inches deep. Patton unscrewed another knob, pouring the strangely chrome liquid into the compartment and putting it back.

After he stepped back, things began to return to normal. First, L’s fans whirred to life, significantly louder than V’s. That spread the smell of smoke around, causing the corners of Patton’s mouth to pull down. He seemed to mutter a small ‘I’m sorry’ before opening the chest panel, removing a piece of paper, edges singed and ashy. Roman’s eyes widened slightly as he recognized the note he’d given L a few days before.

Once that was removed, L started to boot up again. Slowly, the lines started to glow a startling indigo, slightly lighting up the white paneling along them. Even the freckles across its face seemed to light up slightly. A quick flutter, and its eyes opened, looking around. Confusion painted its features until it took in everything, the light around its cheeks turning to a magenta as it noticed its uniform open revealing its bare chest and open cavity. It quickly shut the chest panel, zipping up its uniform as its eyes landed on the note in Patton’s hand.

Before it could begin to get a word out, V tackled it, burying its face into L’s chest. “Do-o-on’t ever do-o that again!”

L awkwardly hugged back with its singular arm, colouring fading back to indigo. “I’ll try not to. I didn’t mean to scare you, Vi.”

Patton beamed, setting the note back on the table. “Glad to see you’re back to tip-top shape Logan!”

L--Logan, smiled slightly as it cradled V to its chest. “Thank you for helping me Patton. It’s a relief that you got here in time before my short term memory began to fade.”

“Of course, I wouldn’t wanna lose my cool robo-friends.”

V chuckled at that as Logan rested its head on V’s.

“Now, that’s quite a lot of excitement for one day, how about we turn in? It’s only 18:00, but I’m mighty exhausted scrounging for parts and picking up Silver Blood for you two. I managed to pick up some cheap dinner that you and I can eat, Roman.”

“Can they join us?” The words were out of Roman’s mouth before he could think.

Patton, Logan, and V all looked shocked, then Pat turned to the two androids. “Would you like to join us upstairs for dinner and a movie? It’s okay if you don’t want to.”

Hesitantly, V nodded and Logan replied in affirmation, eyes flicking to Roman. Roman had no idea what had come over him to ask the question, but he couldn’t back out now. Besides, it couldn’t be worse that what had already happened, right?


End file.
